Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
14th Edition
ISBN: 9781337399920
Author: Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Textbook Question
Chapter 24, Problem 11P
If the velocity of the solar wind is about 4.0 × 102 km/s and the visible tail of a comet is 1.0 × 108 km long, how many days does an atom in the solar wind take to travel from the nucleus to the end of the visible tail? (Nate: 1 day = 86,400 seconds.)
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If the velocity of the solar wind is about 4.0 ✕ 102 km/s and the visible tail of a comet is 5.0 ✕ 108 km long, how many days does an atom in the solar wind take to travel from the nucleus to the end of the visible tail? (Note:1 day = 86,400 seconds.)
If you saw Comet Halley when the comet was 0.3 AU from Earth and you observed a visible tail 5 degrees long, how long was the tail in kilometers? (Hint: Use the small-angle formula.) (Note:
1 AU = 1.5 ✕ 109 km.)
You observe a comet 0.46 AU from Earth with a tail that is 1.7 degrees long. How long is the tail in AU?
How long is the tail in kilometers?
How many times could the U.S. fit along the length of the tail? (The width of the U.S. is 4,313 km.)
Chapter 24 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Ch. 24 - What is the difference between a meteoroid and an...Ch. 24 - What do Widmansttten patterns indicate about the...Ch. 24 - Why is it possible to acquire Moon rocks by...Ch. 24 - Prob. 4RQCh. 24 - Prob. 5RQCh. 24 - Prob. 6RQCh. 24 - Why do astronomers refer to carbonaceous...Ch. 24 - Prob. 8RQCh. 24 - Prob. 9RQCh. 24 - Of all the meteorites shown in Figure 24-2, which...
Ch. 24 - Meteorites were once part of which type of...Ch. 24 - Most sporadic meteors were once part of which...Ch. 24 - Meteors in showers were once part of which type of...Ch. 24 - Prob. 14RQCh. 24 - Prob. 15RQCh. 24 - Why do astronomers conclude that asteroids were...Ch. 24 - A fragment from the surface of a differentiated...Ch. 24 - What evidence indicates that the asteroids are...Ch. 24 - Prob. 19RQCh. 24 - Prob. 20RQCh. 24 - What evidence indicates that some asteroids once...Ch. 24 - How is the composition of meteorites related to...Ch. 24 - Prob. 23RQCh. 24 - Prob. 24RQCh. 24 - What is the difference between a centaur and a...Ch. 24 - What is the difference between a comets dust tail...Ch. 24 - What evidence indicates that a comets nucleus is...Ch. 24 - Why do most short-period comets have prograde...Ch. 24 - What are possible fates (or end-states) for...Ch. 24 - What are the hypotheses for how the bodies in the...Ch. 24 - Prob. 31RQCh. 24 - How would studying the chemical composition of...Ch. 24 - Assuming a night lasts 12 hours, how many total...Ch. 24 - Prob. 2PCh. 24 - If a single asteroid 1 km in diameter were to...Ch. 24 - If a trillion (1012) asteroids, each 1 km in...Ch. 24 - Prob. 5PCh. 24 - The asteroid Vesta has a mass of 2.6 1020 kg and...Ch. 24 - Prob. 7PCh. 24 - What is the maximum angular diameter of the dwarf...Ch. 24 - At what average distances from the Sun would you...Ch. 24 - Prob. 10PCh. 24 - If the velocity of the solar wind is about 4.0 ...Ch. 24 - What is the average distance of Comet Halley from...Ch. 24 - If you saw Comet Halley when the comet was 0.7 AU...Ch. 24 - What is the orbital period of a comet nucleus at...Ch. 24 - The mass of an average comets nucleus is about 1.0...Ch. 24 - Prob. 16PCh. 24 - Prob. 1SOPCh. 24 - Earth orbits 1 AU from the Sun, and the Oort cloud...Ch. 24 - Look at Figure 24-2d. Identify the chondrules by...Ch. 24 - Prob. 2LTLCh. 24 - Prob. 3LTLCh. 24 - Look at the images of Comet Mrkos on the left page...Ch. 24 - Prob. 5LTLCh. 24 - Prob. 6LTLCh. 24 - Prob. 7LTL
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- Refer to Example 13.1. How would the calculation change if a typical comet in the Oort cloud is only 1 km in diameter?arrow_forwardWhy do astronomers refer to carbonaceous chondrites as unmodified or primitive material?arrow_forwardIt is believed there are 2.7 x 1012 comets in the Oort Cloud, which has a radius of 71000.0 AU. Calculate the average volume that each comet has to itself. Then take the cube root of the average volume per comet to find their typical spacing in AU.arrow_forward
- The calculation in Example 13.1 refers to the known Oort cloud, the source for most of the comets we see. If, as some astronomers suspect, there are 10 times this many cometary objects in the solar system, how does the total mass of cometary matter compare with the mass of Jupiter?arrow_forwardConsider the differentiated meteorites. We think the irons are from the cores, the stony-irons are from the interfaces between mantles and cores, and the stones are from the mantles of their differentiated parent bodies. If these parent bodies were like Earth, what fraction of the meteorites would you expect to consist of irons, stony-irons, and stones? Is this consistent with the observed numbers of each? (Hint: You will need to look up what percent of the volume of Earth is taken up by its core, mantle, and crust.)arrow_forwardHow would studying the chemical composition of only the largest, brightest, and most easily observed asteroids yield potentially misleading information about asteroids in general? Why is this called a selection effect?arrow_forward
- The mass of an average comets nucleus is about 1.0 1014 kg. If the Oort Cloud contains 2.0 1011 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in units of Earth masses? In units of Jupiters mass? (Notes: Earths mass in kg can be found in its Celestial Profile. Jupiters mass in kg can be found in its Celestial Profile.)arrow_forwardThe mass of an average comet's nucleus is about 1.0 ✕ 1014 kg. If the Oort cloud contains 2.0 ✕ 1011 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in units of Earth masses? (Note: Earth's mass is 5.97 ✕ 1024 kg.)________ m Compare that with Uranus's mass. (Note: Uranus's mass in units of Earth's mass is 14.5 M.) mass of the Oort Cloud / mas of Uranus =________arrow_forwardSuppose there are approximately 8.0×1068.0×106 asteroids in the asteroid belt that have a diameter larger than 0.20.2 km. If the asteroid belt stretches from 1.91.9 AU to 3.73.7 AU, how much space is there for each asteroid? Follow the steps. (There are 149000000.0000149000000.0000 km in 1 AU.)arrow_forward
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